Diet for a dysfunctional planet

By JUDY WEST

At the age of three, Anna Lappé accompanied her mother—“Diet for a Small Planet” author Francis Moore Lappé—on a research trip to Guatemala. Mother and daughter have taken many trips since then, including a journey round the world to explore food systems, hunger and poverty. That odyssey led in 2002 to “Hope’s Edge,” a sequel of sorts to “Small Planet.”

The word “hope” made it into the title, said Lappé, 29, at a Dec. 1 Institute for Environmental Studies seminar, because despite the obstacles, “there’s been a widespread emergence ... of communities and organizations looking to transform the food system.” Here in the U.S., she is heartened by efforts to make healthy food more accessible. Though corporations continue to eat up the competition—in 10 years, said Lappé, one in every three dollars spent on food will go to Wal-Mart—and 30,000 farms are lost every year, communities are fighting back.

Lappé noted the proliferation of farmers markets and the growth of the organics movement as hopeful signs, as well as the banning of junk food and sodas in public school systems—including Philadelphia—and community efforts to block genetically manufactured foods. “Yes, there are obstacles,” concluded Lappé, “but there are tangible things we can do.”

Penn Current Express

Quoted Recently

“More companies are asking how they can separate themselves from the organization and instead tighten their connection to the game. The brand of FIFA is problematic but the game of soccer is still popular.”

— Kenneth L. Shropshire, director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, on how the FIFA corruption scandal has caused some sponsors to be less concerned about partnering with the powerful soccer organization. FIFA tends to have the most leverage when negotiating deals with companies, but experts are wondering whether sponsors will be able to demand clauses that allow them to leave in cases of corruption. (The Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2015)